Live it up in your lounge
Your lounge is the one room where the family spends a lot of time to relax, catch up and be entertained in. We look at some top tips on how to arrange furniture to make the room practical as well as look striking
The four major basics
Track traffic flow
The layout of the room, the entrances and exits, as well as the furniture placement, will largely dictate the traffic flow and space. Leave enough space around your furniture so that people can comfortably and easily walk from one side of the room to the other
Up against a wall
In larger rooms it is better to place pieces closer together in order to create a more intimate setting than against the wall. As long as the backs of the various pieces of furniture are finished, there is no reason why they shouldn’t be on display
Establish a focal point
Pinpoint the focal point of the room, and then design the room and place the furniture around it. The focal point can be anything – from a fireplace, to a bay window, or even a standout occasional chair, rug or objet d’art
Conversation areas
The main purpose of the lounge is a place for people to relax and spend time together. The furniture should be placed in a manner that makes it easy for people to comfortably communicate with one another
Size and placement
Measure it up
Living room furniture makes up a sizeable investment, so it is essential that the pieces you choose suit the space from a functional and aesthetic point of view. Measure the space and draw up a floor plan of the room in question, before you buy any furniture. Sketch the room on a piece of graph paper, and cut out square blocks that are the same size as each piece of furniture that you want to purchase. Move them around and see where they will be best placed. This way, you can be sure that the pieces fit in the room.
Rugs and carpets
When choosing rugs ensure they are large enough so that all the furniture can sit on top of the rug. If this is not possible, then ensure that the front legs of all upholstered pieces rest on top of the rug.
Couches and chairs
These should be proportionate to the room in question, as comfortable as possible, and visually appealing. Corner units are inclined to catch home decorators out when it comes to getting them through the door and into the lounge. Claire Gibson from La-Z-Boy, explains: “For smaller living rooms, you can invest in inclining motion furniture, instead of reclining furniture. Unlike a recliner, where the back of the seat reclines, the seat of an incliner moves forward to make space for the back to recline. This way, an incliner does not need extra space for reclining, and it can be positioned really close to a wall.”
Coffee tables
Coffee tables usually in the centre of the lounge should have a height that is slightly lower than the seating surrounding it, be approximately one-and-a-half, to two-thirds the length of the neighbouring couch and be placed in such a manner that you can easily lean over and reach from your seated position.